We will be the bricklayers of a future safe from gangs

Vicky is 19 years-old, she lives in El Salvador with her
mother and shares her experience of violence as a young girl
advocate in her community.

In El Salvador, the phenomenon of gangs and organised crime
terrorises the country: several communities and schools are being
literally taken by gangs. Inside the schools, there is violence
too, and everyone is at risk of being recruited by a gang.
Children as young as 9 years-old are sometimes recruited.

Living through a war of violence

Violence exists everywhere in the world, but in my country, its
rates reach alarming heights. Through the years, insecurity has
taken all Salvadorian families. There is so much crime in our
country that it very much looks like we’re living through a war.

Because they are easy targets, not only to abuse of but also to
recruit, children and youth are by far the most affected by this
violence, which happens a lot in schools.

Last year, 29 schools reported cases of human trafficking, 278
school centres reported having found guns inside students’
backpacks and 580 reported cases of drug-dealing in the school
buildings. As a result, last year almost 69,000 young girls and
boys dropped-out of school and 313 were murdered inside school or
their surroundings.

Being an adolescent girl in El Salvador

In the country girls are usually seen as those who stay at home,
clean the house and cook. When walking in the streets or even at
school, the threat of being raped is omnipresent. Gang members
see girls as sexual objects and nothing else. They can see a girl
and choose them as their “wives”. If they girls leave they will
kill their parents.

We receive no support to stay in school, even less to go to
university. Even though we would do so, the threat of being
abused in school is so high that it is a barrier in itself. In
the last year, 30 school centres reported several cases of sexual
abuse on girls and young women inside the school. In schools,
malls and public spaces, girls go to the toilet in groups of
three. One to use the toilet, two to look out for gang members
who might rape or abuse us in the bathrooms. Bathrooms are
dangerous for girls.

Gang violence isn’t the only violence faced by girls, but there
is a strong culture of misogyny in the country. Women are not
respected, not valued, and abused psychologically and physically.
Last year 575 women were murdered, three women every other day,
and just 11% of those cases ended-up in trial. For a girl, it is
impossible to get justice over sexual abuse: The authorities just
don’t even take the time to file a report or investigate those
cases. It is expected that some authorities are also threatened
and working with the gangs.

This leads all women to think less of themselves, so much that
they often don’t even report those abuses. Girls feel like they
don’t have a right to education because they have experienced
this violence and must stay at home.

For all girls and women of El Salvador, we need to see a change.

Promoting human rights at all risks

I am determined to be part of the change. I provide workshops at
a national and local levels, in schools and communities and talk
about human rights, protection, gender and participation as
citizens. When giving the workshops I like to focus on girls and
young women because they face incredible risks every day, and
aren’t supported sufficiently. I see them as “unpolished diamonds
waiting to shine”. A friend of mine was depressed and lost hope
after losing her parents. After joining our workshops, she now
works with the local government to hold forums where women can
express themselves freely.

Sometimes people in our communities feel they have no opportunity
to change their future. Through the workshops, we show them how
they can. I understand them because I felt the same way before I
starting to participate in these same workshops provided by Plan
International. Today I understand those are just mental barriers,
and I’m proud to be able to share that with others.

However, we face some challenges in our work. All the territories
where we work are controlled by gangs. I am always afraid when I
have to walk in rural areas to go give a workshop. I am afraid to
be attacked by someone, because the gangs have eyes everywhere on
their territories and know whenever someone comes in or out. In
schools is the same problem, there are always local observers,
checking whether or not we say the wrong things including the
numbers associated with different gangs. When giving the
workshops, we literally risk our lives.

Of course there are ways to limit the risks and be safer. For
example, I am always in touch with the programme unit of Plan
International to make sure they know where I am and when. There
are also more practical things like leaving at the correct time,
and wearing the right kind of clothes that aren’t the colour
associated with a gang. I usually prefer to wear Plan
International clothes because everyone in the community knows and
respect them.

Include youth in decision-making

I am really glad to be participating in the World Humanitarian
Summit and have the opportunity to share the experiences of young
people living in my country. I hope that the “Compact for Young
People in Humanitarian Action” will help us we can work with
governments and other organisations to find solutions together.

We know that governments want to build a better future for us,
young people, but their decisions affect us and must include us.
We will be the bricklayers of that future, so today I want to
call on world leader to listen to us and get us involved in their
decisions. However, we must start by stopping the disintegration
of families that promote the situation of violence.

I am just one single girl from El Salvador representing
thousands, and I feel I have the responsibility to say on their
behalf that we want to be free. Free to go to school and study,
free to walk and play in the streets without fear. We want to be
treated as human beings, to feel that we are important and
valued, that we really have a future, most of all, we want to be
the ones shaping that future.